1. Spo's shining moment: The focus of Miami's championship-clinching victory last night was LeBron James, and why not? When you follow a great regular season for which you win the MVP award with an even more spectacular playoff run, capping it with a triple-double, you deserve the spotlight.

But here in Portland, we should raise a micro-brew to the man who steered Miami to the title -- a man who fostered his love of basketball in his Raleigh Hills neighborhood, in the hallways of Whitford Middle School, Jesuit High School and the University of Portland and especially on the courts, sidelines and offices of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is Portland born and raised, the son of former Blazers executive Jon Spoelstra. With the Heat committing hundreds of millions of dollars to gather James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Spoelstra was the man tasked with making an imperfect roster work. And he did, culminating in the franchise's second championship.

"He's got the respect of these guys," Heat president Pat Riley told NBA-TV after last night's victory. "Now I hope he gets the respect of everybody that's judging him."

There were certainly a lot of those as the Heat became a strange magnet for attention and hatred, owing mostly to James' unfortunate decision to announce his signing in an ESPN special. Every quote, loss and misstep was scrutinized for subtext. Spoelstra, who started as a video coordinator for the Heat and rose up the ranks, was always going to be a scapegoat if the Heat failed.

But you could see the difference in Miami this season as Spoelstra got James and Wade to quit taking jump shots and start attacking the basket. And you saw how Spoestra evolved their attack as the season went on. The Heat of the regular season were an athletic unit that used suffocating defense to create fastbreak opportunities.

In the playoffs, Spoelstra found a way to get the Heat through with Bosh out during the Indiana and Boston series. In the Finals, facing a team that was his team's athletic equal, but younger, Spoelstra got James to post up in the low block and the elbows, using his strength to go right at OKC's shot blockers, and to use his gifts as a passer to make the Thunder pay for double teams.

The championship might have been redemption for James, but it was validation for Spoelstra.

"There's no denying his greatness as a coach," Jeff Van Gundy said on ABC's telecast. "He kept this team together down 2-1 in Indiana, down 3-2 going to Boston. He's done a remarkable job here."

2. Meanwhile, back in Cleveland: After James bolted for Miami, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert issued his infamous letter, promising his team would win a championship before James. What say you now, Mr. Gilbert? Gilbert chimed in on Twitter:

"Great NBA season. Enjoyed playoffs. Congratulations to Miami & OKC
for an exciting Finals. Back to work on next weeks promising Cavs draft."

Obviously, no mention of you-know-who.

But as Gilbert wrote, the draft is far more important in his mind, and he took to Twitter to ask his followers for suggestions on what players the Cavaliers should draft with their two first-round picks, at Nos. 4 and 24.

Indeed, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Tom Reed writes that Miami's victory unburdened James and Cleveland, and allows the Cavaliers to turn the page. Cleveland has a terrific player to build around in point guard Kyrie Irving -- who won Rookie of the Year -- and with a good draft, could form a young nucleus that grows together into contenders in the way Oklahoma City has. Speaking of which ...

APOKC's Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in the waning moments of last night's loss.

3. Harsh lesson: Apparently Miami fans aren't the only ones who should be grateful to the Heat. The Oklahoman's Barry Tramel writes that the Thunder should thank the Heat as they taught OKC a valuable lesson.

"The Thunder needed to know that on this
level, it has to play smart and tough on every possession," Tramel writes. "Needed to
know that it can't relax against a team like the Heat. Can't resort to
old habits or momentary lapses."

There's a feeling that OKC will unquestionably be back for more Finals, parlaying these lessons into future championships with this cast of characters. But I wouldn't etch anything in stone yet.

The same timing that allowed the Thunder to contend while not paying luxury tax is going to force them to make tough choices about the futures of James Harden and Serge Ibaka, who each have one year left on their rookie contracts. With max deals committed to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, something is going to have to give.

We've learned in the playoffs where OKC's deficiencies are. Ibaka and center Kendrick Perkins are stellar defenders, but when you play small, as Miami did by necessity, you can exploit them by taking them outside (Shane Battier, often guarded by Perkins because of cross matches, shot 15 for 26 on three-pointers in the Finals). Ibaka and Perkins might also be too offensively limited to play together. (There's a report this morning that Perkins played with a groin tear during the playoffs.)

Westbrook's intense style is so difficult to deal with, but you wonder about him long-term. Can he play that way for the entirety of his contract, which runs through the 2016-17 season? Chicago's Derrick Rose, who plays with similar reckless abandon, paid the price in a plethora of injuries this season.

Nothing personal Cleveland, but Seattle had to have this happen the way we got screwed.

Dear OKC, in the words of Nelson Muntz (The Bully on the Simpsons). HA HA

Thank you very much LeBron for denying the evil Bennett empire an NBA title!

I hope that Karma NEVER allows Oklahoma to win an NBA Championship. What
I leave on the remains of the 2011-12 Thunder won't pass for flowers.

Never thought I would root for the Heat, but the joy of seeing the
Plunder lose is wonderful. True fans never get over finishing second
in the finals; this will hurt lying Clay and the OKC Okies for decades.
Wonderful...

Felton says he would ideally play in a fast-paced system like he did with the Knicks, but ultimately he can play in any system, but he would like a fast system, but ... well, let him explain his thoughts on system:

"It’s big and it’s major in the NBA – no question about that. I see a lot of guys who are great basketball players get into the
wrong system and you never hear about them again. So I think that’s the
biggest thing. But with me being a hard worker and me having the
knowledge that I have of the game, I can go pretty much anywhere and
play any type of system."